Holliday to Host Golf Classic for Scholarships

Maryland Athletics

6-5-2014

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Hall of Fame Maryland broadcaster Johnny Holliday will host the Ninth Annual Johnny Holliday Scholarship Golf Classic on Monday, June 16 as his way to give back to young students in Washington, D.C.

The event will begin with a shotgun start at 10:30 a.m. at Bretton Woods Golf Course in Germantown, Md., followed by an awards presentation and dinner.

In order to provide academic opportunities for underserved youth in Washington, DC, Holliday, in partnership with the Youth Leadership Foundation (YLF), founded the Johnny Holliday Scholarship Classic in 2005. The two-fold goal of the Scholarship Classic is to raise funds for the Johnny Holliday Scholarship Fund at the University of Maryland, and to support YLF’s ongoing work of boosting academic performance while developing character in promising local youth.

The Scholarship Fund provides academic scholarships for high-performing YLF students to attend the University of Maryland. Since its inception, Johnny's tournament has raised over $1 million for YLF and its students. Founded in 1997, YLF has seen 97% of its students graduate from high school and go on to college.

In 2011, the Community Champion Award was inaugurated, to be presented annually at Holliday's event in recognition of a local community leader who exemplifies a spirit of service and commitment to the betterment of the local community. Past recipients include Gary Williams (2011), The Lerner Family (2012) and Chief J. Thomas Manger (2013).

Leon Harris, the lead anchor on ABC7/WJLA-TV, is the recipient of this year’s Community Champion Award. Harris is passionate about improving the lives of children. His weekly segment, Harris’ Heroes, profiles adults helping kids or kids helping their peers in the D.C. metro region. The series runs every Wednesday evening during ABC7 News at Five. Harris also works with many charitable groups including the Youth Leadership Foundation, For the Love of Children, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington, Unique Learning Center, March of Dimes and many others.

Holliday has been the Voice of the Terrapins for 35 seasons and originally joined the Terrapin Sports Radio Network in 1978. In addition to his work with Maryland, Holliday is currently the host of Nats Xtra on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).